BirdLife Malta received the first casualty of the spring hunting season today, as members of the public found an injured Marsh Harrier next to the Għasri main road, leading to Ta' Pinu in Gozo
"The protected bird of prey was found suffering from an injury to its wings, having sustained shotgun injuries days ago, with wounds already infected with maggots. The vet confirmed that the harrier had a shotgun injury to the left wing and it will be kept under observation for possible rehabilitation," a BirdLife Malta statement read.
"Although this is the first shot bird received during this year's spring hunting season which opened last Sunday, it is the second casualty witnessed following an injured Pallid Harrier (Bagħdan Abjad) seen flying at Delimara on Sunday."
"The 2018 spring hunting season started on 1st April and will run until the 21st April, both days included. Hunting is permitted from 2 hours before sunrise till 12pm every day of the season, from Monday to Sunday. Anything outside of these dates and times is therefore illegal. This year, the only huntable species is Quail (Summiena) and all other bird species including the vulnerable Turtle Dove (Gamiema) are protected. Trapping is not permitted during spring and is illegal."
"Although hunting is permitted only for Quail, since the Turtle Dove is now listed as 'vulnerable to extinction' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is currently exempt from spring hunting in Malta by a moratorium, the chosen dates for this year's spring hunting season have been specifically designed to coincide with peak Turtle Dove migration. This puts migrating Turtle Doves at enormous risk from illegal hunting with BirdLife Malta calling on the public to keep an eye open for any illegalities particularly in this regard. "
BirdLife Malta issued a guide on how to report illegal hunting: https://birdlifemalta.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Report-illegal-hunting.pdf . "It is recommended that the public reports any illegalities immediately to the Police on 119, and then to BirdLife Malta on 2134 7645/6 or on emergency (out of office hours) number 7925 5697. "